U.S. Air Force Special
Ops Little-Known Commando Unit

A week with the U.S. Air Force's
little-known commando unit.

BY SCOTT GOURLEY

Photos by James A. Sugar

Published
in the April 2002 issue. Popular Mechanics

When it comes to
versatility, it is hard to beat the Air Force Special Operations
Command (AFSOC). "We are the Air Force's only ground combat force,"
says Capt. Mike Martin, chief of current operations for AFSOC's 720th
Special Tactics Group (STG). "There are some base ground defense units,
but we go forward." For the members of this elite combat team, going
forward means swimming with the Navy's SEALs, jumping with the Army's
Special Forces and Rangers, and hitting the beaches with the Marines'
Force Recon. And then their real work begins. The job of AFSOC
"operators" is to quickly turn a patch of hostile terrain into a fully
functional airfield. Sometimes this means a stealthy attack by
motorcycle and ATV. Other times it means cleaning out hostile forces by
scouting locations for the delivery of 15,000-pound BLU-82 Daisy Cutter
bombs.

Military action in
Afghanistan brought AFSOC's unusual capabilities into the forefront in
the war on terrorism. During the closing months of 2001, AFSOC Special
Tactics (ST) combat controllers were the critical element in the
surgically precise airstrikes in Afghanistan. Using systems like the
Special Operations Forces Laser Marker (SOFLAM)--at left, which creates
the spot that laser-guided bombs aim for--team members precisely marked
terrorist locations for destruction. Despite their highly visible
success, this elite force remained little known to those outside the
military. When POPULAR MECHANICS inquired how the Air Force trained
these elite troops, we were invited to take a closer look for ourselves
by observing them in action at their headquarters, at Special
Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

No Beginners

Cryptic
military
terms convey only the slightest hint of what this unit is really about.
In the chain of command, AFSOC is the Air Force component of the U.S.
Special Operations Command. There are 19 AFSOC Special Tactics units,
called "flights." Each flight consists of 18 men, called operators, who
are trained in combat control, pararescue or weather forecasting. Five
of the 19 flights are on continuous worldwide alert every hour of the
day, every day of the year. As detailed as their assignments may seem,
they omit one essential fact. To get to work, ST operators must be
highly skilled in parachuting and underwater and amphibious operations
along with small-unit combat tactics.

There is
no easy
way to join the ranks of AFSOC. But one of the best routes into this
Air Force unit is to first join the Army, Navy or Marines and
distinguish yourself as a Ranger, SEAL or member of Force Recon.

"When
you look at
the special operations force skills that we possess, it includes all
the characteristics and attributes possessed by our counterparts: Navy
SEALs, Army Rangers, Army Special Forces and Marine Corps Force Recon.
And the reason is so that we can seamlessly operate with those units on
the battlefield," says Capt. Chris Larkin, acting commander for the
720th's 23rd Special Tactics Squadron and supervisor for ST Advanced
Skills Training.

Primed
For
Combat
During PM's visit, we meet men who had previously served with the Navy
SEALs, Marine Corps Force Recon and in Army Special Forces. For
example, Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel--wartime rules prevent us from
giving his last name--wears both the Ranger and Special Forces tabs
above his stripes, reflecting his prior service with the Army's 1st
Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment ("A Week With The Airborne Rangers,"
June 2001, page 58) and 20th Special Forces Group.

"I had
worked with
the Combat Control Teams previously, when I was in the Ranger
battalion, and I had seen what they were doing and who they worked
with--SEALs, Special Forces. It wasn't just a straightforward job,"
Daniel says. "It was really diversified. And that's why I crossed over."

AFSOC
Combat
Control Team (CCT) training takes more than 18 months of grueling work,
as trainees learn the requisite basic and advanced special operations
skills. Physical, mental and emotional toughness are the basic
requirements. What Air Force training turns out is guys--no women are
permitted in ST units--who can think two steps ahead of the game, while
they fight off someone who is trying very hard to kill them.

We watch
this
philosophy in action at a swimming pool where a small group of ST
students are receiving "pre-scuba" instruction during the 60-day Water
Phase of the training. Today's lesson is "buddy breathing" on a single
snorkel. It is normally not a hard task to master. The ST twist is to
simulate the physical and mental challenges of a real combat situation.
A mountainous Air Force instructor adds this extra note of realism by
joining the trainees in the pool, where he proceeds to climb on their
backs, yank off their masks, hold their heads underwater and try to
block their airways.

Specialized
training and precision locating equipment paid off in Afghanistan where
the United States was able to precisely target a Taliban ammunition
dump.

As
an austere expeditionary advance force, ST combat controllers also must
have the capability to establish a remote airfield. They do this using
equipment ranging from a Nikon Total Station survey set that can
quickly lay out a landing strip to pocket-size landing lights.

Increasingly
important in the era of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and GPS-guided smart
bombs are AFSOC's weather forecasting tools. The 720th's 10th Combat
Weather Squadron, which includes detachments throughout the special
operations community, is equipped with the Kestrel 4000 handheld
station and the new Remote Miniature Weather Station.

AFSOC operators need to move fast. In
addition to small
boats such as the Zodiac F470 series Combat Rubber Raiding Craft, ST
personnel use a combination of motorcycles, "quad" all-terrain
vehicles, and tactical wheeled vehicles. Included in that arsenal is
the GRC-206 Mobile Communications
Vehicle, an Air Force Humvee equipped with a sophisticated package of
communications hardware.

Perhaps
the most unusual piece of AFSOC wheeled gear is the Rescue All Terrain
Transport (RATT). Derived in the early 1990s from a commercial dune
buggy design, RATTs support pararescue missions by providing highly
mobile battlefield trauma care. Each RATT carries a driver and
two pararescue personnel. Six stretchers fold out to carry the wounded
to an aid or evacuation station.

Flying LowThe United States
is able to best enemy forces by making extensive tactical use of night
vision gear. But before you can fight at night you need to get on the
ground without announcing your arrival. AFSOC's airborne capabilities
are provided by the 16th Special Operations Wing, which is based at
Hurlburt Field in the United States, and by Special Operations Groups
at RAF Mildenhall, England, and Kadena Air Base, Japan. Arriving at the
16th Wing's 20th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), we climb into the
front of one of the MH-53M Pave Low helicopters for a briefing on the
platform's capabilities. "It's the most sophisticated helicopter in the
world," Capt. Rob says. "We can put this thing low and jerk it around
pretty good. That's what's unique about our mission. The fighter guys
have to worry about threats but they don't have to deal with the stress
of possibly killing themselves. We go out at night at 50 ft. or lower,
on a black night, with night vision goggles, and it's a daily worry
about whether or not you're going to fly into a small house or a small
tower. With terrain-following [and] terrain-avoidance radar, in really
bad weather, I have to climb up to 100 ft. And then it's the system
that's giving us our cues. But if you can actually see out there with
the goggles you can put this thing really low and make some pretty
tight turns."

The
squadron is in
the process of converting most of its fleet of MH-53 "J" Models to the
latest "M" designator. However, current plans have the squadron
replacing some of these helicopters with the Air Force Special
Operations tilt-rotor CV-22. Air Force planners project initial
operational capability for the first six CV-22s at Hurlburt Field
sometime in 2008.

Spooky
And
Spectre
AFSOC's most fearsome weapons are its massive gunships, which are
derived from C-130 transports. The Wing's 8th and 15th SOSes
respectively fly the MC-130E and MC-130H Combat Talon and Combat Talon
II. In addition to providing global, adverse-weather capability, day
and night, Combat Talons can deliver the 15,000-pound Daisy Cutters
that proved so deadly in Afghanistan.

Slightly
more
precise but equally devastating firepower is delivered by the 16th
Wing's AC-130 gunships. The Wing has two models: the AC-130H "Spectre"
flown by the 16th SOS and the AC-130U "Spooky" flown by the 4th SOS.
With a sobering array of direct-fire weapons protruding from their left
side, the gunships circle a target area, delivering overwhelming
amounts of fire with television-targeted and computer-guided accuracy.
On board one of the 4th SOS's "U" models, we notice that this newer
version differs from the "H" model in being pressurized and in
supplementing the earlier configuration's 105mm howitzer and 40mm
cannon with an additional five-barrel 25mm Gatling gun. The weapon
combination represents a mind-numbing lethality.

Rounding
out the
AFSOC air assets are the MC-130P Combat Shadow and the EC-130 Commando
Solo. The Combat Shadow penetrates hostile lines to provide midair
refueling for special operations helicopters, while the Commando Solo
provides a sky-based radio and television station for psychological
operations and civil affairs messages.

As the
inside story
of the war in Afghanistan begins to unfold in the months ahead, AFSOC
will undoubtedly emerge as a pivotal reason for the United States'
success. The array of advanced weapons that ST teams bring to the
battlefield are only part of the story. The extraordinary men,
distinguished by both their skill and their attitude, are the backbone
of this unique force. "They're really just ordinary people," says
AFSOC's Command Chief Master Sergeant Bob Martens,
"but they're doing
extraordinary things, day in and day out."